Last month, Huawei unveiled the FreeBuds 5, an upper mid-range offering that should be more premium than the earlier FreeBuds 5i at almost twice the price. Unlike its cheaper counterpart, the new earbuds use hard ear tips instead of interchangeable silicone tips and they also come with an attention-grabbing design that’s quite unique.
The Huawei FreeBuds 5 sport 11 mm dual-magnetic dynamic drivers that the company claims are 30% more sensitive at low frequencies than the FreeBuds 4. As for the design, the buds feature ergonomic curves that are meant to fit more comfortably in your ear, with stems acting as playback control using both tapping and swiping gestures.
They come with an adaptive EQ that adjusts the sound based on the fit, wearing status, and volume level. Additionally, the earbuds support transmissions up to 990kbps using the LDAC codec as well as a low-latency mode for gaming.
Of course, the FreeBuds 5 come with active noise cancellation just like the 5i, along with AI noise cancellation for calls. Other specs of the earbuds include Bluetooth 5.2, wear-detection, dual-connection with select devices, and IP54 dust and water resistance, although do keep in mind that the charging case itself is not water resistant.
For the battery life, while the charging case gets a bigger capacity, the earbuds themselves get a smaller battery than the 5i, cutting the single charge usage from six hours to five with ANC enabled. Using the case, however, you can get a total of 20 hours of usage with ANC turned on and up to 30 hours with ANC disabled.
The Huawei FreeBuds 5 are now available for pre-orders at RM699 for both white and silver colour options. You can purchase them on the company’s website and for those who pre-order from now until 19 May 2023, you will get a free case worth RM49.
(Source: Huawei Press Release)
